Friday, April 9, 2010

My girls, Endeavor and Superkid, share a bedroom that most sisters only dream of. It is enormous. It is very pink. They each have their own walk in closet. And their dad built them the best bunk bed ever.

Let's start with the bed. I can't find any pictures of their actual bed in our files today, and my own camera is on the fritz. You are going to have to get by with pictures from the plan the Bionic Man purchased so he could make their beds. (You can see more beds by Tanglewood Design here.) The Bionic Man built the Maryville model, and we hired an artist to paint the exterior, so our girls' actual bed looks similar to the ones pictured. Are you ready for this?

Yep, friends and cousins just love sleeping over. Our girls are very fortunate. They have no idea how fortunate. They are very lucky that they have a daddy who can make things like this. Sometimes I'm jealous of their bedroom. (But not very jealous, because I was lucky enough when I was their age to have a daddy who could build bunkbeds, too. And treehouses.) It is so fun to snuggle and read stories in that little alcove. I'll post pictures of our version sometime soon, so you can see our version of this bed.

So, what can I say? The bed is a keeper. The perfect thing in an otherwise imperfect space.

Let's talk about the walls. The structure is good. This bedroom is under the eaves, so to speak, so one side has a fun slanted ceiling. But the walls are pepto bismol pink. And trimmed with a very bright wallpaper border. Against my better judgment, I gave in to the pleadings of my daughters (who loved pink, especially bright pink) and my husband (who knew what a big job it would be to cover all that pink with another color) and left it the way it was when we moved in. After all, there was some pink in my daughter's existing bedding. But every time I walk past their bedroom, I get a nasty pepto bismol taste in my mouth. Every time. And an almost-eleven-year old Endeavor is getting very tired of the current decor. So the pink has to go go go. I am determined to banish it this summer.

A word of advice to all you moms out there: big bedrooms are a big mistake. Big bedroom = big mess. Big, messy, shared bedroom = lots of tears and fights when it is time to clean that room. Two walk-in-closets = two more places to walk in and toss your stuff. While it is fun to have such a large space (it was probably intended to be a bonus room when the house was built) for the two girls to share, it has turned into a second playroom. So it is almost constantly in disarray. And don't even get me started on the closets.

Our girls' room is awfully hard to take care of. I've let the girls have desk/craft areas in their large closets, hoping to contain some of the typical disarray and hide it behind closet doors. Oh boy, was that a misguided strategy. Now we have clothes mess and craft mess and stashed toys all mixed together....in two places. Trust me, something has to change.

One change we are planning is that the girls' will be losing one of those two big closets. As I mentioned previously, we're thinking about turning an upstairs walk in closet into a laundry room......which means they will need to share a closet for clothes only and I will need to create a new craft space for them.

I've been looking for some good tips on creating bedroom desk/craft space. Below are some of my favorites.

From Country Living

I like how they used the canopy to conceal this vanity/desk. Doesn't that look girly?

From www.decorpad.com

This is more along the lines of what would be realistic for our space. I love the organized shelves (using items I could pick up at Target!) and the idea of a long stretch of countertop. However, that long stretch of countertop scares me, too: will it ever be clean and clear?

Meg who blogs at whatever has an awesome craft room in her house. There are several things about her room that I could apply to creating a bedroom craft space for my girls. First of all, Meg's room doesn't look like anything that required custom carpentry. I'm guessing that she found much of her "modular system" at garage sales and just repurposed it. But it is so fun and colorful. Honestly, I think Meg is one of those people that could tie an old rag around a bundle of sticks and we'd all look at it and go, "Wow! Where can I get one of those?" Some people are blessed that way.

See how she used fabric to conceal what is underneath those countertops? Genius!

Another blogger I like, Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy, has some great ideas for a craft room/desk space, too. Take a look at all of her before and after shots here, but I'll show you the ones that have given me some ideas, below.

Let me just say, this is not supposed to be a complain, complain, complain kind of post. I am incredibly grateful that we have this kind of room and the means to make it a delightful space for both my girls. But I'd love to hear some of your ideas for ways that I can inexpensively organize and beautify their existing space.

The Quote that Really Inspires Me:

"You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. "What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. "If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage"